Strange Life of a Cat

Ye Hao didn’t have his talk with Zheng Tan right away. He didn’t show up at the Night Tower the next day. He had some business to attend to.

A Jin’s friends had been transferred to a nearby hospital. It was much better than the small hospital they were previously staying at. It wasn’t that they were severely hurt, but that Ye Hao’s people wanted to make sure they didn’t suffer any further complications due to their injuries.

Wei Ling was driving with A Jin in the passenger seat and Zheng Tan in the back.

A Jin had wanted to sit in the back, but he realized he didn’t know how to face the black cat anymore. He knew his band got their chance because of the cat, Wei Ling had said as much.

A Jin didn’t understand. Even if this was a special cat, it was just a cat.

A Jin recalled the attitude that Wei Ling and everyone else at the Night Tower’s held toward the cat. He had mentioned Zheng Tan to Long Qi that morning. The latter’s expression turned dark at the mere mention of the cat.

A Jin had been living on the streets for a while and was good at sensing the mood. Though Long Qi quickly hid his reaction, A Jin still caught it.

He was mindful of Wei Ling too. Although he was very drunk last night, he still remembered bits and pieces of what had happened. Wei Ling had managed to get him talking, he had said too much. By the end of night, he had told him everything including the hospital and ward where his band members were staying.

Wei Ling didn’t seem to mean them any harm, but he still berated himself for not being vigilant enough. His guard went down immediately after Wei Ling showed him the East Palace. He still had a long way to go.

As for Mr. Fang, well, that was another problem.

Wei Ling told him never to tell anyone about Mr. Fang, or else it could bring him trouble.

Apparently, no one around him was simple. Even the cat.

After parking the car, Wei Ling took out a backpack and looked at Zheng Tan.

Zheng Tan sighed but still jumped into the bag.

Long Qi had already told him the ward number. Wei Ling and A Jin went directly to the room. It wasn’t a single ward, but had four beds inside. There was only the band in the room at the moment. Three of them were actually hurt, the other was taking care of them. He sometimes took naps on the free bed.

The four had so many questions when they saw A Jin, but didn’t want to talk with Wei Ling in the room. They were still confused. Last night a stranger came over to them, but only told them they were to be transferred to another hospital this morning. Everything had been taken care of, they didn’t have to do a thing.

They had been on their own long enough to know there was no such thing as a free lunch, so they were worried. They wished A Jin would come back soon to explain what was happening.

They were still incredulous after A Jin explained the events of last night, staring, in awe, as Zheng Tan climbed out of the backpack. Who knew this cat was so well connected?

Anyhow, they were now staying in a better hospital and got a chance to learn at the Night Tower. It was great news. They had prepared for the worst and were already packing their bags, ready to go home in defeat. Now who knew, they might make it after all.

Zheng Tan examined the kids. One had bandages on his head, one had a cast on his foot and the last didn’t show any signs of flesh wounds. All three had high spirits and didn’t appear to be too badly hurt.

It was really bad luck that they managed to get hurt singing at a bar. It was not unusual, however. Fights happened often between performers in bars. A Jin and his band’s members were newcomers, so it was normal that they were ostracized and bullied.

Zheng Tan had come to check on the boys. Now that he had done that, he hopped back into the backpack and signaled to Wei Ling that it was time to leave.

Wei Ling patted A Jin on the back, “You have a lot to learn young man. Don’t be tricked into talking that easily in the future.”

A Jin was surprised. Apparently Wei Ling knew that what he did wasn’t right. It was a lesson for A Jin.

Wei Ling headed back to the eastern quarters directly after leaving the hospital. If he didn’t bring the cat back, the Jiao family would probably never allow him access to the cat again.

On their way home, he did notice the black cat was deep in thought.

Zheng Tan was trying to recall the details of last night. He had acted impulsively. Even he didn’t know he had so much pent up emotion. It was good he managed to get it all off his chest last night. Thank God it was at the Night Tower, where the sound proofing was well done. His shame was only witnessed by a small audience.

On another note, Zheng Tan guessed that the thing Wei Ling wanted his help on must involve Ye Hao.

He could sort of guess what line of business Ye Hao, Long Qi and Baozi were in. They must be powerful to be able to run a club like the Night Tower in an area like that.

As for what they needed him for, he still didn’t know.

Wei Ling’s voice broke him out of his trance.

“Look Charcoal, pigeons.” Wei Ling said.

Zheng Tan straightened up to look outside. There was a square with a few pigeons. There weren’t really enough to make a flock like the kind people saw on TV. It wasn’t interesting at all. He didn’t know why Wei Ling brought them up.

“Apparently last century, foreigners used pigeons as spies. They would train these pigeons and tag small wiretapping devices to their legs. The pigeons would fly to a designated location guided by lasers. After they had landed somewhere like a window sill, they would peck the listening devices as they were trained and the device would turn on. The device would automatically detach from the pigeon. When the wiretapping began, the pigeon would be long gone.”

After he finished, Wei Ling laughed at himself for being silly. He was talking to a cat. Worse he was trying to hint something to a cat. No matter how smart the cat was, it could never understand something when it was told in such a subtle manner.

The car stopped at a red light. Wei Ling looked at the cat through the rear view mirror. He had expected the cat to half ignore him like it always did, but instead saw the cat staring at him through squinted eyes.

The look in those feline eyes sent shivers down his spine.

The cat had understood what he wanted to say. It was chilling.

His master had said that cats were smart, but bordered on smart enough to scare people. It scared him.

“Charcoal, Ye Hao ran into some small problems. It’s not unsolvable, but it would take some time to fix them. Ye Hao wished the matter to be settled as quickly as possible, so he wanted to plant a listening device in someone’s house. It’s a place that’s not readily accessible to people and that’s where you come in. Do you understand what I’m saying?” Wei Ling looked into Zheng Tan’s eyes through the mirror.

Zheng Tan yawned and rested on his belly.

Wei Ling said:”How about this: if you understand what I mean, then pat the car seat.”

Zheng Tan patted the car seat with his tail.

The corner of Wei Ling’s eye twitched. The cat really understood. Did this mean they didn’t even need to train it?

“It’s not a very difficult task. Just don’t alarm them. If you take on the task, I’ll be your reinforcement. If anything happens, I promise I will make sure you get out safely. Alright?”

Zheng Tan patted the cat seat with his tail again.

“So how about it? Are you interested?”

This time Zheng Tan thought for half a minute before patting the car seat again.

This time Wei Ling was truly surprised. So the cat really understood what the task was? Or was it just swaying its tail out of boredom?

He had estimated that to prepare Zheng Tan, a week of training would be necessary. They would need to teach the cat what to do and how to do it. Now, however, it looked like the cat didn’t need it at all.

“Anyhow, sleep on it. I’ll come pick you up the day after tomorrow. Wei Ling said. He didn’t sound like he was talking to a cat, but rather like he was discussing a matter with a fellow human. The exchange was so smooth that he was worried. Did the cat really understand?

Wei Ling’s car entered the Eastern Quarters.

Zheng Tan jumped off the car and then back in again.

“What?” Wei Ling asked?

Zheng Tan scratched his neck.

“Oh. Yes.” Wei Ling took out Zheng Tan’s security entrance card and hung it back on his neck.

After getting his card, Zheng Tan left, but he didn’t go home directly. No one would be home at this hour.

Tiger and Sheriff were basking in the sun on the lawn. Next to them was Daisy the St. Bernard. Tiger was kneading Daisy.

Zheng Tan didn’t have time for them. He had things on his mind.

This time next year, Papa Jiao would have to go abroad. He would be overseas for at least a year. During that time, without a man in the family, what were they going to do if Jiao Yuan and Youzi got bullied at school? Could they depend on people in the quarters to help? No, they couldn’t, Zheng Tan decided.

Papa Jiao’s friends would definitely do what they could, but Zheng Tan wanted to help as well. He planned to stay here, so he would need to show his worth. If a bully showed up and the usual methods didn’t work, who better to help than Ye Hao? Sometimes, brute force was the answer if reason didn’t apply.

So Zheng Tan needed to do this for Ye Hao.

It was a simple task, and according to what Wei Ling said, it was safe. There was no harm in trying, right?